Mint velvet velvet

Blush trim lace cami, Mint Velvet £79 – other colours available

I once saw Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen in a hotel lobby with their child, Olive.

It was a freezing cold day – exactly like the weather we are having now. In between slightly sniggering at Ali G trying to get the toddler Olive to put on her coat as they were leaving (“I thought we had a deal Olive – you put on your coat, that’s the deal.” “Noooooo!!!”) I was paying close attention to what Isla Fisher was wearing.

I can’t remember how I was dressed, but I remember feeling very strongly that I was too cold. And that Isla Fisher looked toasty warm as hell in furry boots, jeans, a giant parka (probably full-price Canada Goose, let’s face it) and a cashmere sweater with a beautiful slip of lace from a camisole poking out from underneath it.

She sort of looked like she had popped a snuggly cashmere jersey on over her silky pyjamas, slipped out of a feather filled bed topped with a tactile and fluffy quilt and shrugged on her giant TFFP* parka.  Which she probably had done.

It stayed with me, that vision of her. And the other day as I was flicking through the Mint Velvet catalogue I saw this rather handsome velvet top, with verily a beautiful trim of lace along the bottom, so I bought it immediately and it does indeed poke out from the bottom of my cashmere sweater.

It is a nice fit and quite generous sizing – I am a size 12 and I got this in a 10 and it’s fine.

It is important with this look that the velvet top is worn as a casual item only – with boyfriend jeans and a grunge cardi or peeping out from under that cashmere sweater and then boots or trainers. Wear this with a pair of tight bootcut jeans and pointy shoes and you will look like you have concussion and think it’s 2005.

*Tiny Fragile Freezing Princess, q.v.